Happy Hump Day!!

Even though none of you are enjoying the Arizona sun like we are, it is hump day.  Only 2 more work days till Friday!  And better yet, less than 24 hours until we are home!  We are torn about leaving, since it`s always nice to get home but with home comes reality.....and work......  :(

Today we ventured out to Scottsdale to check out Old Town Scottsdale.  It is a very cute and quaint area which is reminiscent of the old west with a new school flare.  There are some great restaurants, a beautiful park and many cute shops nestled in a few blocks.

What!? A big boot and bell?  Can you say, HELLO photo op!!??

We wandered around Old Town Scottsdale, and visited with some of the locals.  Trent enjoyed the company and a few stories and many laughs......

Double Gun Gus sharing stories of the old days......

While Trent was busy laughing and enjoying stories of the old days, I was looking to hook up with some Arizona strange..........

Arizona Charlie and I getting our freak on!

After enjoying the locals and visiting some cool shops, we worked up an appetite.  There were so many restaurants to choose from, but after reading all the menus, we settled on Cien Agaves.  Since we don't have any good Mexicali restaurants in Vernon, this has been our cuisine of choice.  Were we EVER glad we chose to eat there!  We started with guacamole, chips and green and regular salsa.  I had 2 tacos with beans and Trent had 3 tacos with beans and rice.  Sooo good.  I chose 1 salmon taco and 1 ono taco while Trent's were shredded beef, seared ahi tuna and grilled chicken.  We also had sangria - Trent 1 big glass and me, 2 big glasses.  Yup - eating and drinking again!  Yeehaw holidays!  After leaving a tad on the tipsy side, I posed for yet another photo op......

Yummy food & drinks!!!

After lunch I got a little prick and NOT from Arizona Charlie!!!

We left Old Town Scottsdale and headed back to our condo.  On the way, we decided to take a drive by the posh Arizona Biltmore Hotel.  The area is RIDICULOUS.  The multi million dollar estates are breathtaking.  The fountains and green space is VERY unique.  We even saw some orange trees!

Beautiful orange trees outside an estate

After our drive around, we headed back to the condo to get everything packed up.  We are very close to being overweight on our luggage, but we have an extra duffel bag just in case.  Pretty sure Trent's hot sauce is throwing us over.........

We headed out to the Phoenix Public Market at about 4:00.  It was an......interesting.......market to say the least. It was in the projects and there were only about 8 vendors.  I was a little worried to take a picture.  So no photos....sorry!  After the quick jaunt throught the market, we headed back to the condo to finish packing up and relax.   We are probably heading to bed soon since we fly out at 7:00 am (6:00 am our time).  I think we will be getting up around 3:00 our time.  Yippee....so till next time!!!

I will post about our happy travels once we are home!  Take care and luv luv to all!  And to all a good night!! 

Taco Tuesday!!

Happy Tuesday all!!  Look at me blogging 2 nights in a row.  Perhaps it's becoming a thing for me.....who knows.  I am willing to bet its the alcohol consumption........

I hope the weather is good wherever you are.  A little birdie told me that it snowed in Vernon today, but hopefully it will be melted and warm by the time we get home!!  Today we felt like relaxing a bit so Trent spent the morning catching up on sports online, while I spent the morning reading.  We left the condo at about 11:30 and headed out for a drive to check out the area around the condo and go somewhere for lunch. 

See?  Wall......hole in it........

I read online about a little hole in the wall called Fuego's Bistro.  It literally IS a whole in the wall.  It was a bitch to find, but Susan English got us there safely!!  Many of you may think that all we do is shop and eat.  The shopping part is true, but as for eating.......really.......we have been too busy shopping to eat!  Most days is cereal for breakfast, then a late lunch and wine/beer for dinner.  Ok.....many of you probably think that we drink a lot, but that really isn't true either!!  Anyways, back to lunch!

Yum Yum!!  Empanadas with Cuban beans and rice!

Fuego's is Mexican with a Cuban flare.  The food was AWESOME!  I had sangria to drink and Trent had a margarita. 

Best salad ever!!!

To eat, he had the empanadas and I had the veggie tostado salad.  There were these walnuts on the salad that were spicy and wonderful.  Mmmmmm so good!!!  After we were filled up to the brim, I went to the bathroom for a quick pee and stole a roll of toilet paper.  Yes, that's right, good ole TP.  You see, there was only 2 rolls at the condo and one roll is pretty much sandpaper.  Soooooo I have been on the hunt for an easy accessible roll of toilet paper and the TP at Fuego's fit the bill!!  Yay me for having a big purse!  This was one day that Trent didn't complain of my oversized purse!!

After lunch we enlisted Susan English to help us get out of the back alley Fuego's was located in and direct us to the nearest Super Target.  No....not just Target but SUPER Target!  We wandered around for a bit and Trent found EXACTLY what he was looking for.  That`s right!!  The biggest jar of cheeze balls EVER!!  I mean come on, who doesn`t need that many cheeze ballz!

Excuse me, but I believe I requested the LARGE jar of cheeze ballz!!

After Super Target we took a drive looking for a place to buy cheap booze to bring back with us.  Since we only have about an hour and a half layover in Seattle, we don`t think we will have enough time to stop into the duty free shop and stock up.  Soooooo we drove around looking for someplace good! 

Although we didn`t buy booze here, I did admire their landscaping!

We saw some interesting folks on our travels today, but unfortunately, I wasn`t in the mood to be shot so didn`t take their picture.  Sorry! 

On our way back to the condo we stopped at See`s Candies.  OMG SOOOO good!  It`s like Purdy`s but better.  Their chocolates are HUGE and the assortment is insane!!  They gave us so many samples I wanted to barf!!  After See`s we went back to the condo for a pre-dinner drink.  We decided to hit up the happy hour at Hula`s Tiki Bar.  It`s a Hawaiian restaurant with the best menu.  Seriously, we really don`t just eat and drink and shop!!!  I had a Mai Tai and a blood orange martini while Trent had 2 passion fruit margaritas.  We decided to order off their Happy Hour menu and ordered the coconut shrimp rolls, pork tacos for Trent and tofu tacos and rice for me. 

Mmmm tofu tacos!!!

Coconut shrimp rolls with pineapple horseradish sauce!

We sat outside with the fire pit behind us.  We didn't actually sit that close the whole time!

 After dinner we continued our quest for cheap liquor.  We ended up at Total Wine.  It is like an adult Disneyland.  Where else can you buy a 6 pack of coolers for $3.47!?  Yes you heard me right.......now that is practically free.  We ended up picking up 2 60s of Bombay Saphire gin for $28.99 each.  We also decided to bring home a 26er of tequila just for shits and giggles.  It was $9.99!  Hopefully it doesn't get dumped at the border or we don't get charged $20 for it!  Mind you, that would still be a deal!  Tequila shots or margaritas this weekend anyone!!??  The greatest thing at Total Wine was these little 1 ounce packs of vodka, rum, whiskey, etc.  They are little pillow packs, packed separately.  You could pop a couple of those puppies into your bra or sock and drink for cheap at restaurants!  That's how classy we are.......


Speaking of classy..................

That's a mighty big bottle of gin miss........

After Total Wine we tootled around and stopped at Fry's for hot sauce, then headed for home.  Now we are just relaxing and I am thinking bed is in order soon.  We managed to pack up our suitcases to make sure everything will fit.  Hopefully we won't be overweight, but who knows!  We did pick up a lot of goodies!!

Tomorrow is our last day and we aren't really sure what we will feel like doing yet.  We are going to wing it but maybe just relax and take it easy.  We will see.  If it's warm we might hang out by the pool.  


Have a happy hump day tomorrow!!!

Olive Y'all!!!

That's right....I said it.  I love ya'll.  I mean.....Olive Ya'll!!  That's what happens when you blog at night........after drinking a bottle of $3.99 wine.  Will I regret that in the morning???  Our dinner pretty much consisted of Green Fin wine, Corona, Red Vines and hummus and chips. 

I don't care who you are - That's a dinner of champions right there!

OK, OK.  Enough about the $3.99 bottle of wine.  Back to the blog......Today we spent the morning pulling out all of our purchases and organizing them on the island so we knew what we had and didn't over buy.  Pretty sure our kitchen looked like a consignment store!  Some would think that we over bought, but really.....can you EVER over buy?  I think not.  After breakfast, analyzing our purchases and searching for the dumpster, we were off.  We set out for the Queen Creek Olive Mill at about 11:45.  I know I have mentioned Susan English before (our TomTom commentator) (TomTom being our GPS) but......Susan English was ANNOYING today!!  It was either her, or the freeways surrounding Phoenix.  Not sure who to blame....but someone is at fault none the less!  That bitch had us so turned around, we were on and off the freeway like nobody`s business!!! 

On the upside, we did see some big balls!!!  Check it out Where's Waldo style!!

 We left our condo at about 11:45 and decided to stop in Gilbert Arizona at Logan`s Roadhouse Grill for lunch.  You may have seen commercials on TV for this place, but the commercials don`t do it justice.  It is pretty much the greatest restaurant ever (for anyone who isn`t a gluten free vegan, anyways!!)  They always advertise deals of 2 can dine for $9.99, etc.  When I was in Phoenix a few years ago to see U2 in concert I ate at Logan`s and knew Trent would LOVE it.

We FINALLY arrived at Logan`s Roadhouse Grill.  On the table they have salted peanuts in the shell that you just throw onto the floor.  Aside from my slight peanut allergy, I enjoyed them immensely. 

This was before the scratchy throat.......

Not only does Logan`s provide you with peanuts in the shell, but they also give you sweet rolls and butter to start.  The sweet rolls are fresh from the oven the squishiest things EVER.  They are so good!!  Although gluten and I don't party well together, I did have about 3/4 of a bun.  The after effects were felt and documented on the IBS relief message board, but I will spare you  the deets.  Anywho - back to the glorious rolls..........I thought eating one roll was on the riskay side, but Trent REALLY liked them.  How many do you think he ate????

Yup!!  That's right - 5 Rolls!!

For lunch, Trent had the wing trio.  Apparently they were the best wings of his life.  The trio consisted of buffalo wings with homemade blue cheese, garlic Parmesan wings and grilled wings on a skewer.  I had the Sante Fe shrimp cocktail.  It was 7 grilled prawns on a skewer, shredded lettuce, grilled corn, black beans and a fresh guacamole and corn tortilla chips.  SOOO good. 

After we ate lunch, we headed off to the Queen Creek Olive Mill.  Susan English managed to get us there without any side trips!!  The Olive Mill was fun.  It was very interesting to learn about the making of olive oil and how most of the oil we buy in stores is just crap.  I will spare you the public service announcement, but know that you should either stick with better quality olive oil or just use vegetable oil. 

That's me chilling out under the olive trees.

After spending some time at the olive mill, we headed back towards home.  I found it rather interesting that we were travelling along Superstition Freeway.  Susan English didn't get us turned around, but I kept singing 'Very Superstitious, the writings on the wall..............."

Gotta Love TomTom - He's always up for an adventure!

We figured since we were in the area, we may as well stop off at Arizona Mills again and pick up anything we may have missed.  Do you honestly think I could go a day without shopping!?  SERIOUSLY!!!  So....we stopped in for some more 'mall walking'.  I picked up another sweater.......you can never have too many, as I always say!!  Nothing like an outlet mall in the Latino Projects!  Pretty sure we were the only whiteies on the premises!!

Oh Arizona Mills how I love your ghettoness in all it's glory!

We shopped until about 7:00 and headed back for home.  We figured an early night was in order.  Trent is watching South Park while I blog.  It's about 10:30 now, so probably a good time to finish.  Sorry if I blabbed a bit, but I will blame it on the $3.99 wine.  Yup - I AM still excited about that one!! 

We aren't really sure what we are going to get up to tomorrow.  We are thinking of just winging in.  We definately want to check out a Happy Hour at the local Mexicali restaurante!!  Since I am tight with the locale drug cartel, we should be able to get some good eats!! 

I hope everyone has a great night and wonderful Tuesday at work.  Feel free to leave a comment!!  We aren't really sure if anyone is actually reading this other than my mom, Rocket and MAYBE Janelle! Anyways, if anyone needs anything, just let us know.  We have lots of room!!!

Love you guys and talk soon!!!

Sunday Funday

Well, well, well........Look who is keeping up their commitment to blog.  What a good girl, eh Ma??  Since our trip is half over :( and we are beginning to miss the girls, I feel like a look back at their cuteness is in order.......

Sadie chilling in the leaves

Sophie striking a pose

Yesterday we had a bit of a late start as we didn't leave the condo until about 11:00.  The original plan was to hit up a market in Scottsdale but apparently it wasn't on this weekend because of Thanksgiving.  We headed out to Scottsdale anyways for more shopping!!  I can honestly say that I would be fine shopping every day of my life.  Some people get tired of it after a day.  Not me!!  I really don't want to do much else than shop.  There are sights for us to see, etc.....but all I can think about is stopping in at another Ross or DSW(Designer Shoe Warehouse for those of you who don't know).  Not good....not good at all.

After DSW, we were hungry so went for lunch to Sweet Tomato Kitchen.  This place is the greatest place on earth.  Trent and I are not big on buffets, but this place rocks my world!  It is the biggest salad buffet ever!!  It's $8.99 per person and it's every topping imaginable for salads, 6 kinds of homemade soups, baked potatoes with all the toppings, baked sweet potatoes, mac and cheese, pasta salad, cheese bread, muffins, a huge dessert bar with 3 kinds of ice cream and yogurt, all the toppings.....oh my I could go on and on. 

Nom Nom Nom

We even saw a Christmas tree farm!!

After eating too much - I won't mention Trent and his huge salad, 2 plates of mac and cheese, brownie with ice cream, bowl of soup.....ok maybe I will mention it.  But we were FULL!!!  After lunch we headed over to Kohl's and picked up a few goodies.  Next was Ross, then Macy's, then JC Penny's, then the mall, then Last Chance, then TJ Maxx, then, then, then.  Here's a couple of lovely little pictures taken on our desert drive......

Imagine all the tarantulas in them cacti!!

There wasn't too much exciting stuff happening while shopping. Trent did manage to pick up a couple of sweet t-shirts at Kohl's!!  They will come in handy this holiday season.  Especially for the Home Depot Christmas party.

Is that Santa you say?! Ready for the festivities!

Just add a blazer for a sophisticated party engagement!

After our long day of shopping, we headed back to the condo at about 9:30 local time.  Before we left in the morning, Trent put on a load of laundry, which included our sheets.  Being the laundry addict that he is, he had been doing a load a day with no problems.  We arrive home after a long day of shopping, to find that the wash stopped mid cycle and that no matter what, we can't get it to drain and spin.  Oh lovely. I had noticed more sheets in the bathroom cupboard, so we attempt to put those on the bed.  As it turns our they are for the hide a bed and airbed and are only double, rather than queen.  So using a flat sheet on the bottom and a flat sheet on top, we made due.  There weren't any extra pillow cases either, so we had to use some of Trent's new shirts.

 

 

 

Comfy pillow cases

 
Once the bed was made, Trent had a beer and nachos and I had wine and leftover rice.  When I was buying wine, I made a point of buying the cheapest bottle I could find.  I just wanted to see how it tasted.  I ended up paying $3.99 for the bottle.  I opened it last night and drank 1/2 the bottle.  It was SOOO good.  Does that make me a cheap wino?  In the time I spent with my Mexican cartel friends, they taught me that more money doesn't always mean better wine!  Such wise, wise, folk.  The many lessons they have learned me.

I was about to sit down on the couch to drink my wine when I saw something on the floor.  After a scream it ran underneath the couch.  I was pretty sure it was a gator.  Whatever it was, it was green and it was HUGE!!  It had beady little eyes and it hissed at me while flashing me it's shiny white fangs!  I wasn't sure what he was but I named him Chompers.  Not worrying about how he got in, we worried about how we would get him out!!  At this point I was wishing that I was travelling with Billy the Exterminator or at least his brother Bobby!  Although Trent doesn't flat iron his hair or have frosted tips, he did his best Billy impression and wrestled the gator out the door.   

Trent battling the gator

He managed to get him outside and lock the door.  As we sat on the couch recovering from the incident, I am pretty sure we could hear Chomper scratching at the door trying to get in!  Before Trent wrestled him to the ground, I managed to capture him on film.  Now warning - this picture isn't for the faint at heart.........be warned..................

Chomper

Hmmmmm................that's interesting..........perhaps I got caught up in the moment.  He doesn't look as big as I remember.  Or as scary.  In fact, he is actually kind of cute!!  Ok, he will no longer be known as Chomper.  I think Gary the gecko is a better name. 



Today we are planning on taking a drive out to Queen Creek, Arizona to visit an olive farm.  It will be something different to do and perhaps more photo ops.  Lucky for you guys!! 

I hope everyone enjoys their Monday back at work.  Haha have fun with that!! 

Luv Luv...........

Black Friday

Happy Sunday Everyone!! Are you getting ready to go back to work tomorrow.........haha we aren`t!!!  So have fun with that.............

As everyone is well aware, Friday was Black Friday.  For anyone who doesn't know what that is.....ARE YOU A FOOL?   Just kidding....well not really.  Anywho - it's the biggest shopping day of the year in the US.  Sales are abundant and the atmosphere is crazy.  This year a lot of the stores in Phoenix opened at midnight.  Our original plan was to fly in, NOT get side swiped in the ghetto by a bunch of Mexicans, and sleep for a few hours to arrive at the outlet mall at midnight.  Obviously those plans didn't work out so well for us!  We ended up going to sleep at 9:30 and setting the alarm for 2:00 am.  

We arrived at Arizona Mills at 3:00 am for the shopping madness to begin!  Arizona Mills is considered a bit of a trashy indoor outlet mall, located in Tempe.   They are trying to revitalize it, but I am not too sure how that is working out for them.  They have built a huge sand castle in the middle of the mall which was kind of cool.  They had a "hunky" santa there for the ladies to get pictures with from midnight to 4:00 am.  Now who can pass up a picture with a "hunky" santa!!??  Part of my plan was to get my picture taken.  But as we all know.....plans don't always work out.  When I saw "hunky" santa all I could say was, "Oh hell no!!"  He wasn't so much "hunky" as he was wonky eyed and skinny like a meth head.  The mexi-calis were all over him like flies to shit.  Sorry - that wasn't a racist reference in case you thought it was.  Oh wait, I never did tell you he was black, so technically it wasn't racist. 

*Remove foot from mouth*

Back to the deals.........So I am trying to change Trent's shopping mentality of thinking that it's only a good deal if he can pick the item up for under $2.00.  If any of you  have ever seen his t-shirt collection, then you will know why he has so many! He doesn't realize that a name brand sweater that is 50% off then another 30% off is practically free.  He looks at it as a sweater for $10?  What a rip off!!  So....if you ask him about the Black Friday sales and he says, "Well.....I thought there would be better deals", you will know not to believe him.  No, he didn't manage to score a sweater for $2.00 but he got close at $7.50!!  He still thinks he paid to much......

We got quite a few things and shopped until about 7:00 am when we took a break for a bite to eat.  There wasn't much in the food court that I could eat and I didn't think that the asian vegetables and rice would be particularly fresh at 7:00 am as I watched the woman at the Panda Wok stirring the food over and over and smiling out to the 5 people sitting in the food court, in hopes of someone coming to her counter.  My choice was a salad....thrilling, I know!  I can honestly say that I have NEVER had a salad at 7:00 am.  I am pretty sure I never will again, but it was a weird sensation to say the least.  After eating we shopped some more until about 9:30 am when we headed for home.  We made a tired stop at Trader Joe's for some food, had a glass of wine and a beer at 10:00 am and headed to bed for a few hours.  Since Trent can sleep anywhere, anytime, he slept until 2:00 pm.  I slept until about 11:15 am.  Lucky me......We got up and got ready to head into Glendale for the Phoenix Coyotes vs. Vancouver Canucks hockey game.

We arrived at the Westgate area which surrounds the arena.  It is a really cool area full of restaurants and shops.  They even had a big Christmas tree!

There is even a fun hockey guy!

No, that isn't Trent and I with a tan!!  I know what you are thinking and honestly, I am NOT racist!!

We shopped around for a bit and I ended up buying 2 pairs of shoes because my feet were killing me and since we packed so light I had nothing comfortable.  What an idiot.  I guess I had hoped to have purchased some shoes by then, but we really haven't found many shoe stores.  Today we will be hitting up the DSW, but that will be posted about later.

Our obligatory pose with the tree and no this isn't a game of where's Waldo.......

After wandering around for a bit we decided to find a place to eat.  We settled on a Mexican Cantina.  There was nothing for me to eat since the tortilla chips had wheat in them.  Who does that really!?  Oh well.  Trent had nachos and we were off to find something "Jodie Friendly" to eat.  I settled on sushi - always a fab choice!  After eating, we headed over to the arena. 

Since Jobing.com arena is the third emptiest arena in the NHL, we were able to score cheap seats 4 rows off the ice beside the penalty box.  They were fantastic seats!!  

A shot from our fab seats!

The game was a lot of fun.  There were WAY more Canucks fans than there were Phoenix fans.  Must be all those JAFA's who winter in Phoenix.  Oh don't EVEN get me started on the JAFA's!!  We run into them everywhere!!  "How do you  know they are JAFA's", one might ask?  You can just tell.....they are pretentious, they think they are better than everyone else and furthermore, they give Canada a bad name.  Ok - I will stop ranting.  I have wasted too much time on the locusts of Canada.  Back to the game......

Enjoying the game!

The game was good.  It was a shut out for the Canucks, 5-0.  I got a few points in the hockey pool to help me maintain my status of first place.  Trent got a few points too, but he is still in dead last.  I am not really sure how that feels since I generally win the hockey pools, but we won't dwell on that now will we?  For those of you who are in our hockey pool, I feel a bit more experienced in picking players after being in first and being at a Canucks game.  So, for your convenience, I will be offering a session when I get back on How to Win a Hockey Pool and Lose Friends.  The cost will only be $50 each!!

Did I mention that there was a HUGE taco at the game!?  I was kind of obsessed with it because it dropped out coupons from the bottom!  Wow - technology.  How far we have come........

Yo Quiero Taco Bell!  (My Rhines Neuvos & Usado cartel taught me that)

Although parking is free around Jobing.com arena, our feet were killing us and we wanted to make a quick break to head home, so we opted for valet parking.  I am a HUGE fan of valet parking.  It was only $20!!  I say ONLY because we are used to paying at LEAST $30 for parking at sporting events such as ball games in Seattle.  $20 to have your car brought to you was a steal!  We managed to avoid all the crazy traffic and make a quick exit.  

After sleeping in a bit yesterday (Saturday) we decided to head out to Anthem to check out the outlets.  It was a nice drive out into the desert.  Trent is convinced tarantulas are living in the cactus.  

A lonely cactus in the desert

We arrived at the Outlets at Anthem and there was yet another big Christmas tree.  Trent took a picture of me in front of it and it was not pretty.  I looked like "hunky" santa with a wonky eye....except I wasn't black.....ok nevermind.  There is no picture of me.  

We shopped for a few hours (Trent made out way better than I)  I did manage to pick up a few things.........

Yep - That's right.  I scored a onesie!!

Pretty sure I am blogging in my one-er this morning.  Can I get a what what?  It's pretty awesome.  It has little penguins all over it.  They are pretty cute.  Enough about me and my fab one-er.......

After shopping for many, many more hours, we headed back towards our condo for a bite to eat.  We settled on True Food Kitchen at the Biltmore Fashion Mall.  I had found this restaurant online during my research phase of our trip and holy  HELL was this place AWESOME!!!  It's pretty maje for me when I find a restaurant that I LOVE!!  This place serves all organic, locally grown food.  Their menu is clearly marked vegan, vegetarian and gluten free.  Trent and I started by sharing the best salad I have eaten at a restaurant EVER.  Then I had the stealhead salmon on a bed of quinoa and greens.  The flavours were amazing and there was something to die for in there that I have never tasted.  It was orgasmic for me.  Trent had free range steak tacos.  He said they were fabulous as well.  Mmmmmmmmmmmm

2 of my faves

After eating we headed back to the condo to change and run as we were going to see David Spade at a comedy club and had to get there by 7:00!  We arrived at the club, got in and holy shit the place was PACKED!!!  We got seated along a bar area which was perfect about 20 feet away from him.  

There were 2 opening acts.  The first guy was good but the second guy was even better.  It was Kevin Farley.  Yup - Chris Farley's brother.  Now I am a HUGE fan of Chris Farley from WAY back.  That guy was EPIC.  Kevin wasn't as funny, but he was still hilarious.  Haha I just HAD to include that picture.  One of my favorite SNL skits EVER.  I laugh everytime I see this picture.  RIP Chippendale Dancers......

So after Kevin, out came David Spade.  I am SO in love with this guy.  He is FUCKING hilarious.  I pissed myself laughing the entire hour and a bit he was on stage.  He is such a creepy looking little skid of a character but there is just something about him.  I can understand why he dates all the hot chicks in Hollywood.  Since we were squished into the club like sardines, I got stuck beside this chick who kept talking to me. My friend, friend, Debra told me everything from the Phoenix road grid, to a restaurant she went to for her husbands birthday and how hungry she was to telling me about how far Chandler Arizona is from Phoenix!  Anyways, I was finally able to shake her a few minutes into David Spade's act.  So I can't even begin to explain how awesome it was!  He was so funny and charismatic, it was phenomenal.  Well worth it!  

After the show, we stopped at Culvers for some ice cream and lemon ice, then headed home to be in bed at a decent hour.  That brings us to today.........

Since you are up to date, I will try to take more pictures and blog later tonight or tomorrow.  Today we plan on heading to Scottsdale to check out a couple of markets and wander around the downtown district.  It's supposed to be artsy and full of culture.  We will also hit up a few DSW's and Macy's and JC Penny's at some point.  It should be another fun filled day!!  Since it's almost 9:00, I should get showered and ready.  So I hope everyone has a wonderful day and I will update you soon!!

Happy Sunday Funday!!! 

 

 

Yahoo Phoenix!!

Well, well, well............Look who's back!!??  I apologize for being such a delinquent.  I know I said I would keep up on the blog, but life took over and blogging each day just didn't seem to fit into my routine.  I will make an honest effort going forward to keep everyone up to date on our life.  That being said........

WE ARE IN PHOENIX!!!

We arrived on the 24th - Thanksgiving Day. My parents are looking after the girls, so we are able to actually enjoy our trip, rather than worry about them. We started our day up at 3:45am. Not exactly the most fun in the world, but hey......we were on our way to Phoenix!! My parents drove us to the airport and we arrived a little later than we should have due to everyone wanting coffee from Tim Horton's first. We arrive at 5:15 for our 6:00 am flight. We had already web checked in but had 1 suitcase to check that was filled with our clothes and 3 other suitcases to bring all of our shopping home. We get to the counter and one of the two women was a complete bitch. She starts going on about how we are late and should be arriving 2 hours before, blah, blah. Meanwhile people are lining up behind us to check in for our flight. It's Kelowna airport at 5:00 am. Give me a break!! Anyways, our suitcase was 4 pounds over. So rather than pay a $30 overage fee, we just moved a bunch of stuff into our carry on. All was well and we were off to security. We boarded the plane right away and the flight to Seattle was a quick one.

We landed in Seattle and had just over a 3 hour layover. Customs was INSANE!! A plane from Japan had just landed and the lineups were full! It took just under an hour to make it through. For those of you who don't know, this trip for us was cheap. We used our points and the flight alone cost us $93 total. When we booked, I asked about using some free board room passes we had. I was assured that all I had to do was go to the Alaska Airlines board room and provide them with our confirmation number and last name and we would have no problems getting in. After navigating our way through the Sea-Tac airport tunnels and finding the board room, we went in. The woman at the counter was VERY pretentious. I told her our confirmation number and how the woman I talked to said that was all we needed. Well this bitch proceeds to tell me how it works and that the board room is exclusive, blah, freaking blah. Bottom line is she was a complete bitch and we didn't get in. I am going to have to call Alaska Airlines and yell at them when we get back. Them and Alamo......but that's an entirely different story that we will get to shortly.............

From there we went and wandered around the food court area looking for something to eat. We settled on sitting down in the Anthony's restaurant. All Trent wanted was a bowl of clam chowder, but it was only 8:00am and they didn't serve lunch yet. Instead we had breakfast and drinks. Nothing like a mimosa in the morning.....mmmmm yum. We finished up eating, wandered around a bit more and it was time to board!!
 

The flight from Seattle to Phoenix is 2.5 hrs. For me.....that equates to about 8. I DO NOT travel well. It's not a fear of flying or anything else. I just seem to get sick. My OCD kicks in and all I can think about is germs and what if I have to pee on the plane or worse yet #2!! It seems as soon as I set foot on a plane, I have to go to the bathroom. I kept my water consumption to a minimum and I was OK!!! The flight flew by and the next thing you knew.....we arrived in Phoenix! We took the shuttle to the Alamo rental counter. Now here is where the fun begins........

We got a cheap deal on Priceline for our car. $12 a day or something for a mid-size. We end up with a Hyundai Elantra. From the moment I spotted this car I knew it was bad luck. The seats looked dirty, it smelled a bit and it just didn't feel right. I asked what else there was and unless we wanted to pay another $100 for an upgrade, that was all we got. So.....we take the car. Our plan was to stop at Trader Joe's which was near our condo and get some groceries, then head off to the condo. I entered Trader Joe's into our GPS (TomTom), and we were off. Not being familiar with Phoenix, we thought it was completely normal that we had to drive through the ghetto to get to the area we were headed. We passed this big yellow tire shop on the corner of a busy intersection. It was TOTAL ghetto. Something out of a movie, where there is the Mexican cartel or gangsters hanging around with Latino music playing, huge silver rims all around out front, the resident Pitbull and lots of hydraulic cars. As we passed, I wished I had my camera at the ready to take a picture because it was SO ghetto. There were hookers and homeless looking addicts wandering around and hanging out at the Jack in the Box across the street.

TomTom commentator) says, "You have reached your destination" We look around and there is no Trader Joe's. All we see is a big black security guard and a warehouse. Now remember, we are in the skids...... We were pretty sure that TomTom lead us astray. So, we plug in the address of our condo and Susan English gets us to turn around and go back towards the ghetto tire shop. As we travelled along Buckeye Rd. to 35th Ave we were instructed to take a left at the tire shop. I will never forget Rhines Nuevos & Usados New & Used Wheels or Buckeye and 35th. This is where out adventure began..........

We were in the left hand turning lane waiting for a green BMW coming towards us. Next thing we know, something green is coming towards us, Trent steps on the gas and I yell HOLY FUCK!!!! Looking back in retrospect it should have been more like MOTHER FUCKER!!! According to the police report, here is what happened. Now keep in mind the speed limit through this intersection is 60 mph. NOT 60 kms........... The green BMW coming towards us was just passing us in the intersection when a big green truck FLEW through the red light, plowed into the side of the BMW which in turn PLOWED into the side us. Trent saw the truck hit the BMW and THANK GOD he hit the gas!! The entire drivers side back door of our car was CRUNCHED in. It's scary to see how close it came to hitting the driver's side door!!

Trent thankful of where the damage was!

The Rhines Neuvos & Usados was the only place where we could pull off the road! Even with an accident in the intersection, those crazy fuckers were flying around us and honking! We finally made it over to the tire shop and got out to survey the damage.









We were in shock but had no major injuries. We went into survival mode. A nice Navajo couple stopped and provided us with their information as they had witnessed the accident. My immediate reaction was to call the rental car company. Who gets into an accident in a rental car!? SERIOUSLY!! So I get on the phone to them and Trent goes across Buckeye to the Jack in the Box to check out what's going on. At this point I glance over to ensure his safety and see about 10 Mexicans jumping out of the back of the pickup truck that hit the BMW!! As I am on the phone with Alamo, I kind of get my barrings and realize the scenario around me. Here I am, a lonely white girl, surrounded by Mexicans in the ghetto! One guy has a wonky eye, nobody speaks English and I am wearing a ring with a HUGE fake stone in it that people have had to ask me if its real!! Not to mention I have $1,000 in cash in my wallet and a laptop and plethora of electronics in my suitcase in the back of the car!! Oh and keep in mind......this about 10 minutes after we picked up the rental car.


So to make a long story short, the driver of the green truck that FLEW through the red light fled the scene. She didn't have a license. The owner of the truck that was there, he didn't have a license. The cousin of the owner of the truck had the insurance papers but not a license. Meanwhile Trent said that a bunch of homeless men hanging out beside the Jack in the Box were looting beer out of the truck! While a hooker was telling Trent her account of the accident, I was enjoying the company of the Mexican drug cartel!!




Keeping an eye on me and the car......

I must ask from all that read this to not expose me to the drug cartel. If they know their pictures are on the Internet, they may track me down. Those fuckers are powerful!
 

We end up finally getting a tow truck arranged through Alamo, get the accident report from the cop that FINALLY showed up. Now keep in mind Trent was over with the other vehicles for almost an hour while I hung out with my peeps.


That's Trent in the green shirt and some hooker







RhinesNeuvos & Usado closed shop around us and left for the day. At least we had the pitbull to protect us through the gates............

As darkness came over us, the tow truck driver arrived with his girlfriend in tow. Alamo said to hitch a ride back to the rental car place with the driver. We all squished into the cab of the tow truck. I am glad they were about our age and fun rather than stinky or creepy, because the next 2 hours of driving around with them wouldn't have been fun. Now keep in mind that we were not even 10 minutes from the rental car place. But....he couldn't figure out where to drop off the car. Long story short, we finally figured it out after 2 hours and there was supposed to be a car waiting for us. There was no car and there was nobody at the lot. After the tow truck driver finally tracked down someone in the lunch room at the rental car repair lot, we dropped the car, got our luggage and found a shitty 2010 Honda Civic waiting for us. Call me crazy, but I just wasn't comfortable driving around in a shit box. I should give mad props to the Hyundai though. Even though the passenger side airbag didn't deploy the damage was mainly sustained on the outside of the car. It kept us safe and we could have been really injured rather than just a sore neck, back and shoulder.
 

We headed back to the rental car garage, dealt with an idiot of an asshole, requested a manager, I had a break down and cried, Shaniqua told us to call back Friday to get an upgrade because they had nothing else available but a Ford Focus. We took the Focus, Shaniqua hasn't answered her phone, so it looks like we will be keeping it for the week. It's not so bad. We kind of like it but I would feel safer on these roads in an SUV. Oh well.........we are alive!!!
 

We FINALLY got to our condo at about 7:30 or 8:00. We dropped our stuff off and went on the hunt for food. Since it was Thanksgiving, nothing was open. We ended up at a CVS Pharmacy with a case of Corona, wine, chips and Cheetos. Happy Fucking Thanksgiving!




Thankful for Cheetos and Corona!!

On the plus side - our condo is AWESOME!! We love it. Such a better alternative to staying in a hotel! It's clean, nice and in a great area!
 

We drank, ate and went to bed by 9:30. We set the alarm for 2:00 am and got up to go Black Friday shopping!!
 

Since it's 10:00 am and the outlets have opened, I REALLY need to go get ready so we can be off. I will update you on our Black Friday shopping and hockey game later today or tomorrow. We are going to see David Spade tonight and have some drinks! Can't wait!
 

Wish us happy deals shopping! Love to all!!!